Daily § Trojan
University of Southern California
Volume LXXIII, Number 30 Los Angeles, California	Friday,	March	31,	1978
Club says membership discrepancy accidental
Police issue campus crime reporting policy
By Gail Asayama
Staff Writer
A new procedure in reporting crime at the university has gone into effect as a result of the KABC-TV series on campus crimes.
A directive was issued by Capt. Matthew Hunt of the Southwest Division of the Los Angeles Police Department to establish a uniform crime reporting procedure.
“As a result of publicity on Channel 7, some discrepancies were brought into light between our statistics and Campus Security’s,” Hunt said. A study was conducted to determine the cause.
In the case of some misdemeanor crimes, it was discovered that Campus Security did not turn the reports over to the police but instead advised the students to call the police. In many cases students did not make the additional report.
The study also found students would also call police and not notify Campus Security.
Carl Levredge, director of Security and Parking Operations, said the original procedure in which only a portion of the crimes were reported by Campus Security came into practice on the request of the police department long before he became director.
Hunt said this was the first time that they were really confronted with the problem of crime reports. The purpose ofthe directive was to come to an agreement in writing to clarify any difficulties, between the university and LAPD.
The directive said in misdemeanors or crimes against property, security will complete the preliminary investigative report. The victim will again be advised to call the LAPD. The uncompleted reports will be forwarded to the police department on a daily basis who will contact the victim and complete an appropriate investigation. In this way, the department will receive reports even if students do not call in the crime themselves.
If the crime is a felony or involves an arrest, security will im-
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Registrar’s office forcibly entered
The registrar’s office in the Student Administrative Services Building was broken into Thursday morning, although nothing apparently was disturbed.
The forced entry followed charges filed against four students suspected of having their official transcripts changed illegally.
No university employees have yet been implicated in the transcript investigation.
The double doors at the rear of the building were found open at about 8 a.m. by Steve Hirsch, probation counselor.
A pane of glass had been removed to gain entry. Hirsch immediately contacted Campus Security.
Hirsch said everything in the office was in order. A report that claimed a locked file cabinet had been vandalized was unfounded, he said.
The Los Angeles Police Department’s report did not mention the cabinet.
UNIVERSITY-ENDORSED PROGRAM
Speed reading class may be offered for units
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EASY RIDERS—Although they might not have an easy time riding their bikes in today's rain, these two cyclists managed to get in a little free wheeling Thursday. DT photo by Sue Adams.
By Robin Oto
Staff Writer
The Trojan College Republicans claim it accidentally listed 407 names on its membership roll when 117 students were actual members.
The discrepancy over names submitted on the roll is a reflection of local, state and national political bickering within the Republican party, club members said.
The club later voluntarily withdrew the initial list and submitted a membership of approximately 100 members, but the number was later cut to 30 which some members claim was due to political maneuvering.
“If fingers are going to be pointed, everyone could take some blame,” said Hunt Braly, former club president.
“We realized we made a mistake but the people screaming the most are renowned as being some of the most crooked people in politics. There is a growing unrest among college students to clean the Young Republicans out,” said Hal Furman, club president last semester.
The controversy stemmed from an election campaign for the county chairmanship of the Los Angeles Young Republicans between Carl Olson, serving as temporary chairman, and Ron Macdonald, a student at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Braly and other club members felt the election committee undermined the university’s submitted voting strength because the committee wanted Olson to win.
“There was a list of 100 members paid in months before the county election. The ’SC club voluntarily voted (at the county election meeting) with the 100-member strength. The only reason they cut us to 30 was to win the election,” Braly said.
“We acted in good faith but we got basically screwed. I knew we
By Sharon Kilmer
Staff Writer
The Learning Skills Development Center has started a university speed reading program and plans to have the course offered for academic credit in the future.
In the past, only one outside agency's speed reading program has been endorsed by the university.
“We have moved into a situation where the university recognizes the need for incorporating a course like this in the curriculum,” said Robert Arias, director of the center.
“It is not certain yet whether the class will be offered as a one-or two-unit course,” he said, “but I am confident that the move will come soon.”
When student interest in speed reading increased, the university sponsored a study of
had about 150 legitimate members and we conducted our own audit and came up with 117 members,” Furman said.
“Olson wanted to win the election at any cost, even destroying the largest College Republican club here at ’SC,” Braly said.
“USC traditionally has a really strong Young Republican club and I want to keep it that way. I don’t feel any particular animosity toward the group, only a few students who have been misleading. I have a lot of sympathy for how hard it is to run a club but you have to have responsibility,” Olson said.
Olson felt cutting the rolls down to 30 was legitimate. He hired a lawyer and mailed let-
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four different agencies’ speed reading programs in the fall of .1974.
“At the time, we had as many as nine different companies, unscreened by the university, soliciting on campus,” Arias said.
“Students were paying anywhere from $95 to $350 for speed reading programs and many of them were dissatisfied with the results.”
The study was initiated in order to help students choose a well-priced, fair, dependable program and to prevent them from being exploited by companies coming on campus, said Stephen Cheney, assistant director of the center.
“We felt it was our responsibility to do an assesment to provide guidance for students,” Chaney said.
After studying the test results and students’ individual evalua-
tions, the university decided to endorse the speed reading program of the Institute of Advanced Studies.
There was some controversy raised by another competitor participating in the study over the testing results but Chaney said that the university had made a "fair evaluation.”
“USC has an obligation to its students and the perogative to choose whatever program it feels most effective,” he said.
“We still feel that the Institute of Advanced Studies has a good program,” Arias said, “but we have no control over an outside agency.
“One of our main interests is to provide programs that students can participate in for academic credit,” he said. “When an outside agency is involved, we can’t do this.”
This semester, the Learning
Skills and Development Center began sponsoring its own speed reading program that incorporates comprehension and study skills techniques.
A fee of $128 is charged for the eight-week course.
Although students still cannot receive credit for taking the course, Arias sees the move to institutionalize a speed reading program as progress towards the final objective — adding the class to the university’s curriculum.
Students may benefit by enrolling in the course, as the center is increasing its student services with the fees received from the speed reading program this semester, he said.
With the funds, more tutors will be hired and seminars (in time management or test taking for example) will be offered free or at a minimal cost to students.